December 10, 2014

Extra TV recently interviewed Governor Sarah Palin. She had this to say on the 2016 Presidential race.

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[When asked about her running] Palin explained, “2016 is a long time away… that’s a big darn deal when it comes to family.” (ellipsis in original)

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“I would love to see a woman on both sides of the aisle shooting for that top spot.”

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From her first comment alone, I would have to put her into the “definitely not running” category. She is smart enough and has been around long enough to be fully aware of all the preparations needed in order to have a successful Presidential run. 2016 is a scant year away. That’s barely enough time to lay the groundwork for a successful run.

As for her second comment, it won’t be a problem with the Democrats. Hillary Clinton is the presumptive front-runner, and Elizabeth Warren is being touted as a possible rival by the left-wing. It will be a problem for Republicans, however. About the only female Republican who is making any real noise is Carly Fiorina, and she is way, way back in the pack at the moment.

November 19, 2014

The Republican National Committee recently began an on-line straw poll asking its members which candidate they would like to see. The respondents are to circle any three. The list includes:

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush

Businessman Herman Cain

Dr. Ben Carson

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz

Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels

Former CEO Carly Fiona

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal

Ohio Gov. John Kasich

New York Rep. Peter King

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul

Former Rep. Ron Paul

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence

Texas Gov. Rick Perry

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott

South Dakota Sen. John Thune

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

Former Florida Rep. Allen West

Write-in votes are allowed.

The results have not been published anywhere that I’ve seen, and I don’t particularly wish to sign up just so they can get my email address to spam me. However, if you are inclined to participate, here is the link.

November 16, 2014

Things just keep getting worse and worse for Mary Landrieu. Not only have the national Democratic party pulled their financial support for her December runoff election against Bill Cassidy, prominent national Democrats are avoiding her like the plague. Not one potential 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate has stuck their neck out for her.

Hillary Clinton is nowhere to be seen. Who can blame her? She does not want another loss tacked onto her long list of midterm losses. Elizabeth Warren, who expressed support for Mary during the general election, has been strangely silent since then. The only Democrat of national stature who has tossed her any sort of a bone is Harry Reid. He is allowing a bill supporting the Keystone XL pipeline to come up for a vote in the Senate at long last. It is an entirely meaningless gesture though. President Obama has promised to veto it.

Meanwhile her opponent, Bill Cassidy, is enjoying support from several potential 2016 GOP Presidential hopefuls eager to be associated with a winner. Rand Paul has stopped by. Ted Cruz has sent an email endorsing him. Marco Rubio has pledged to help. And of course Bobby Jindal is supporting him, as well.

Sarah Palin is not expected to run yet enjoys a fair amount of clout. She stopped by yesterday to stump for him. Even Mitt Romney can claim a small part in Cassidy’s victory since Mitt flew into Louisiana last month to stump and raise money for Bill.

November 14, 2014

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that he’s “absolutely” leaning toward running for reelection to the Senate in 2016 and that he’ll be the “number one target of the tea partiers” if he does decide to run again.

“You have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” McCain told msnbc when asked whether he was anticipating a tea party challenge. “I definitely think that I would have to absolutely anticipate a tea party candidate or two or three … everybody tells me that I’m the number one target of the tea partiers.”

McCain, who will be 80 years old in 2016, said he’s already begun laying the groundwork for his reelection campaign.

“We’ve already talked with finance people in the state, we’ve already talked to different groups and organizations ranging from the Arizona Chamber to the Southern Arizona Defense Alliance to build the coalitions we need to build,” McCain said.

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I suspect he is right. If you recall in 2010, he beat off a Tea-party challenge from J.D. Hayworth primarily on the strength of Sarah Palin’s, his former VP running-mate, endorsement. He also campaigned on “building the ‘damn’ fence”. He went on to win the general election.

Once the echos of his victory speech had died out, and he no longer needed their support, he turned his back on the Tea-party referring to them as “wacko birds” and “hobbits”. He forgot about the d*** fence and instead joined up with Marco Rubio and the rest of the “Gang of Eight” in pushing the comprehensive amnesty bill.

Party elders will be looking at the 2016 Senatorial election map where the GOP will be defending twice as many seats as the Democrats. They will be sorely tempted to work against the Tea Party in Arizona. However, if this past election has proven anything, it is that the Tea Party has not been standing still. They put forward far fewer Christine O’Donnells and Sharron Angles this time around. Instead, they backed a large number of quality candidates such as Joni Ernst of Iowa. As long as the Tea Party puts up another quality candidate in the 2016 Arizona Senate race, John McCain will have his hands full getting out of the primaries.

November 13, 2014

Governor Palin talked with Neil Cavuto and Lou Dobson last night about the midterm results and about the prospects for 2016.

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[H]e asked again, “Would you be open to a Presidential run yourself?” Governor Palin answered, “Of course. Anybody who loves this country as much as I and you do, anyone who has the willingness and ability to do so, would be crazy to say no, at least to the possibility of thinking about it.”

February 5, 2014

Given the choices of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, and Scott Walker, who would you most like to see as the GOP candidate for President in 2016?

Rand Paul 15% [18%](12%)

Ted Cruz 13% [8%]

Sarah Palin 13% [14%] (9%)

Jeb Bush 12% [11%] (9%)

Mike Huckabee 11% (14%)

Chris Christie 10% [13%] (11%)

Marco Rubio 6% [9%] (18%)

Paul Ryan 4% [9%] (10%)

Scott Walker 4%

Someone else/Not sure 12% [12%] (10%)

If Sarah Palin was not a candidate for President, who would you support, given the choices of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, and Scott Walker?

July 10, 2013

“I’ve considered it because people have requested me considering it, but I’m still waiting to see what the lineup will be and hoping that, there again, there will be some new blood, new energy, not just kind of picking from the same old politicians in the state that come from political families that have sort of [unintelligible] up there for so many years because too many of them have been part of the problem,” Palin answered.

“I’m glad you brought that up,” she continued, “because Senator Mark Begich (D-Ak.) has got to be replaced. He has not done what he has promised to do for the people of Alaska.”

Its certainly a winnable race for the GOP. Sen. Mark Begich’s numbers have been steadily below 50% and Gov. Palin has access to a huge activist and donor base that would work tirelessly for her. With OFA announcing they would not contribute to a Begich reelection effort due to his vote against Manchin-Toomey, Palin’s path back to statewide office could be plausible. However, the Democrats could also attempt to use a Palin candidate to nationalize the midterm races and galvanize the Palin-hating liberal base.

Personally, I believe Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell is the safest bet to recapture the Alaska senate seat, but the thought of a possible Sen. Sarah Palin and a Sen. Liz Cheney heading to Washington in 2015 could be worth it just to watch the collective liberal meltdown that ensues.